Kuhn Rikon Quick-Slice Mandoline

When two people who don’t share a dialect cook together, they find a universal language in food.

I had the great opportunity yesterday to cook Turkish food with a group of Turkish and American women. On the menu: Grape Leaves, Ravioli Alla Turca, Red Lentil Soup and Eggplant Salad. As I jumped in to help by chopping an onion, the head Turkish cook, who does not speak English, stood near me, looking concerned. I stepped away, handed her the knife, and she showed me exactly how that onion should be chopped for her recipe. A few minutes later, we sat across from each other at a big table, where I watched her roll a mixture of rice, pine nuts, mint, dill, currants spices and lemon juice in big green leaves. I did what she did, and she motioned how I could improve. Soon, I was making lovely cigar-shaped dolmas at a quick pace. She smiled and nodded. A delicious day.

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About Alison J. Bermack

It all began when I was a child cooking with my dad, the kitchen a magnet for cooking and camaraderie, a refuge from adolescence. I spent countless hours chopping, sautéing and simmering my way through childhood. And now, with three kids of my own, I’m still chopping, but this time through their childhood and often with friends.